“I don’t know the exactness of his role in what happened, but there’s a lot of smoke,” the ESPN “Monday Night Football” analyst said Wednesday on a conference call. “Wherever there’s smoke, there’s fire. I’ve never heard of anything like this, but I do think he he’s a young quarterback with talent.”

Gruden also touched on the Ryan Fitzpatrick mentor angle:

“I think (Ryan) Fitzpatrick, on his fifth or sixth team, will be a good bridge to the future,” Gruden continued. “But you still have to find out who the future is. Is it Geno Smith? I think it’s too early to give up on him. Hopefully, Fitzpatrick can play solid football until they have an opportunity to decide for themselves.”

It’s true that Smith has shown some pretty solid raw tools at this level. As far as quarterbacks are concerned, he’s one of the toughest. He hangs in the pocket while delivering a strike with the best of the youngsters out there. He also rarely fails to get up off the turf despite how hard a slobber-knocker he just took.

“I like Geno because I know what kind of talent he has,” Gruden said. “There are tapes last year — I think the Miami game … where you say, ‘Man, this guy has the ability to run and throw. There were some throws he made at New England last year that were unbelievable.”

For now the Jets are Fitzpatrick’s team. It’ll be interesting to see what transpires over the next month upon Geno’s return.

Click Logo Above To Customize

Leave this field empty if you're human:

[su_button url=”https://elitesportsny.com/2015/08/27/this-could-be-victor-cruzs-last-season-with-the-new-york-giants/” target=”blank” background=”#000080″ size=”10″ wide=”yes” radius=”0″]Victor Cruz’s Last Season With The Giants?[/su_button]